SAHO global search

1826-1884

King Cetshwayo

… King Cetshwayo’s place of birth was his father’s (Mpande) kraal of Mlambongwenya, near Eshowe. He was born in 1826, a very troubled period in the history of…

B-0066513

1938

Ngugi wa Thiong’o

… The academic and social activist, Ngugi wa Thiong’o is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. He was born James wa Thiong’o Ngugi in Limuru, Kenya…

B-0123171

1959

Mzwakhe Mbuli

… for the young Mbuli.  After experiencing the death of his fellow students, Mbuli’s school went on strike and he … Mbuli refers to this event as “God’s…

B-0084116

1891-1922

Samuel Alfred (Taffy) Long

… in 1891 in Monmouthshire, Wales, Britain. Little is known of Long's early life, other than that he ran away from home … he was ten years old and went coal…

B-0067743

1921-2020

Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa

… father’s first wife with whom he had three children died of influenza. Mutwa’s parents met in 1920. At the time his … mother (a young Zulu girl) practiced…

B-0096731

1940-2009

Dr. Mantombazana ‘Manto’ Tshabalala-Msimang

… from Durban. She matriculated in 1959, at the age of 19. Tshabalala-Msimang went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961 from the University of…

B-0085118

1940-2023

Professor Hoosen Mahomed "Jerry" Coovadia

… had come to South Africa around the 1880’s. They were part of the second wave of emigrants from India to South Africa. His grandfather had … in a rural area…

B-0007958

1948

Gavin Jantjes

… born in Cape Town in 1948. He studied at the University of Cape Town's Michaelis School of Fine Art until 1969. On 1970, he received a DAAD … FÁ¼r Bildende…

B-0008198

1920-1964

Vuyisile Mini

… Vuyisile Mini was born in 1920 in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth. Mini's father was a Port Elizabeth … He was also active in campaigns against forced…

B-0008562

1924-2020

Enuga Sreenivasulu Reddy

… known as ES Reddy has been active in support of the South African freedom movement for more than half a … His father, Mr E.V. Narasa Reddy, was a follower of…

B-0082253

Molefe Pheto

… teacher. In 1970, as a young man he was active member of the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BMCA) for which he was detained in 1975. He was the…

B-0122658

1910-1974

Raymond Francis (Ray) Budd

… 9 June 1910 in Mowbray, Cape Town. He was the only child of Robert and Ada Lea Budd. His father, originally from … in Cape Town as a fitter at the Salt River…

B-0007895

1940

Yusuf Joe Jacobs

… who worked in the diamond mines in Kimberley in charge of mining teams. Jacob’s mother was Zubeida Carr. During the … for full citizenship, the Ten Point…

B-0073817

1925-2013

Colin Wells Eglin

… He grew up in Pinelands, Cape Town, but moved at the age of nine to live with his aunt, outside Hobhouse, Eastern Free … learner. The tension between the…

B-0008044

1952

Nozizwe Charlotte Madlala-Routledge

… at the Centre for Adult Education (CAE) at the University of Natal (now University of KwaZulu-Natal).  While at CSDS, she produced a manual on … 1983, she…

B-0067753

1938

Ngoako David Thebehali

… Soweto . His parents were among the earliest residents of Soweto. From 1945 to 1952 he was a pupil at St. Mary’s … (now St. Martin’s, Victoria) until 1955…

B-0009134

1929-2024

James Matthews

… standard seven, Matthews began to work and held a variety of jobs, including newspaper boy, office messenger, clerk and telephonist. However, for Matthews,…

B-0008484

1935

Judge Albert Louis “Albie” Sachs

… , had arrived in South Africa from Lithuania at the age of six, on the eve of the First World War, and his mother, Ray, had arrived as an infant. Both of his…

B-0008976

1873-1917

Nokutela (nee Mdima) Dube

… Nokutela Dube was the first wife of Reverend John Langalibalele Dube , the first President General of the South African Native National Congress  (SANNC-…

B-0093906

1938-2002

Stephen Vukile Tshwete

… on 12 November 1938. He grew up in the village of Nkonkqweni, in King William's Town and in East London. Both of Tshwete’s parents were workers, which meant…

B-0009166

1925-1976

Joseph Masobila Mdluli

… the African National Congress (ANC) in 1952, the year of the Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws , inspired by the heroism of the volunteers who defied…

B-0074125

1923-2003

Magdaline ‘Maggie’ Resha

… Magdaline Resha was born on the 5th of May 1923 in Matatiele, Eastern Cape . She was the second daughter of Mr. Oziel Tsekiso and Lidia Mamodise Tsiu, who…

B-0068385

1923-2003

Maggie Resha

… Magdaline Resha was born on the 5th of May 1923 in Matatiele, Eastern Cape. She was the second daughter of Mr. Oziel Tsekiso and Lidia Mamodise Tsiu, who had…

B-0008949

1931-1972

Joseph Engenas Matlhakanye Lekganyane

… in 21 January 1931 in Moria. His father is the founder of the  Zion Christian Church (ZCC)  in 1910. He attended … him closer to various church leaders and…

B-0008311

1847-1932

Harriette Emily Colenso

… was born in Norfolk, England, in 1847, the oldest child of Bishop John William Colenso of Natal. Until her father's death in 1883, she acted as his assistant…

B-0007954

1950

Jacob Sello (Jackie) Selebi

… representative to the Soviet Union's World Federation of Democratic Youth in Budapest, Hungary, from 1983 to 1987. In 1987, he was elected as leader of the…

B-0073823

1899-1976

Dora Taylor

… Taylor was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1899. At the age of six her mother died of tuberculosis. She was rejected by her father who regarded … completing…

B-0089634

1926-2009

Gerrit Viljoen

… 1926 to Helena and Hendrik Geldenhuys Viljoen. At the time of his birth his father was the editor of Huisgenoot Magazine. After his family relocated to … and…

B-0068727

1926

Gerrit Van Niekerk Viljoen

… 1926 to Helena and Hendrik Geldenhuys Viljoen. At the time of his birth his father was the editor of Huisgenoot Magazine. After his family relocated to … and…

B-0009204

1940

Johnson Phillip Mlambo

… by Josiah Madzunya and Robert Sobukwe ’s propagation of Pan Africansit ideas, he joined the  Pan Africanist … Daveyton Township near Benoni. Two years after…

B-0067961